A/N: Well guys here's another chapter. Looks like we're drawing to close. It won't be long now. But I have to say it is about time isn't it, lol?

Chapter 19

The city was empty. All the people had left days ago. It had been storming day and night since Lilly's disappearance and had made the city almost completely uninhabitable. Rouge was standing on top of a building her expression was both serious and sad. She and Knuckles had of course stayed and continued to search for Lilly. The two had split up and searched the city day and night. It was only a few hours past sunrise and a heavy rain had just ended for a few moments. "Why..." She looked down at the streets. "Why Lilly? Why did it have to be her?"

"Because."

Rouge's ears twitched as she heard the voice. She turned to a puddle of water that was by her feet. "Nova?" She saw the reflection of the guardian.

"Haven't you realized by now what you have to do?"

"What are you talking about?" Rouge said kneeling down.

"Don't you see how things are?" Nova shook her head. "You are the guardian of that stone. You cannot have this family." She looked very serious. "Don't you understand that you can no longer let yourself be sidetracked by others? You have to be a guardian now!"

"No!" Rouge slammed her fist on the roof. "I won't give them up! Do you hear me!" She looked away her teeth gritted and her fists clenched.

Nova's voices rang out with anger. "Do you honestly think that you could live in your fantasy forever! Knuckles is no less bound by rules than you! Do you think that he can stay by your side forever? He also as a precious stone to guard, and do you really think that others won't come after his stone or yours?" She lowered her voice at last. "Think of the child." Rouge's ears perked. "Do you honestly believe that this kind of life is what's best for her? Running from city to city constantly caught up in battles in which she could die at any point? Don't you see how much danger she's in as long as she's with you?"

Rouge closed her eyes. "But I love them..."

"Then let them go. Give them a better life by keeping that stone out of evils hands."

Rouge's hand slapped across the water ruining the reflection. She lifted from the roof and flew away. "I don't care about the world, all I want is to save Lilly."

"You let me go!" Lilly scrambled in a mans grip as he pulled her on to a roof top. Her heart was pounding as she spotted Daniels and several other men waiting. She was dragged to the edge of the roof and then her capture hung her right over the edge. "AHH!" Lilly let out a scream and just as Daniels predicted it echoed through the silent streets of the city.

The man beside Daniels looked at him. "Are you sure this will work sir?"

"If you knew anything about a bat's hearing, you'd know Rouge will be hear in a matter of minutes."

"How will we capture her as well as the stone?" He questioned.

"With what I have discovered we no longer require Rouge. Only the stone." Daniels said calmly.

Rouge gasped as her ears picked up the echoes of Lilly's scream. It only took her moments to triangulate the source. "I'm coming Lilly!" She flew as fast as she could. Images flew through her head, she shook them away praying that none of these images came true. She turned sharply around the next skyscraper and her eyes widen with horror as she saw Lilly being dangled over the edge of a building.

A grin slipped across Daniels face as he saw Rouge slide to a halt on the roof. "Ah so you came." He acted surprised.

"Let her go." Rouge said with an enraged expression on her face.

"You might want to choose your words a little more carefully." He nodded to the man holding Lilly, who then let the little panther slip further over the edge.

"Stop!" Rouge took a step towards Lilly.

"Uh Uh Uh." Daniels stood still as he cautioned Rouge. "We don't want to have to clean her up off the street now do we?" Rouge gritted her teeth as she looked at Daniels. "The stone first."

Rouge opened her clenched fist to reveal the stone in her hand. "Give her to me."

Daniels snapped his fingers and his henchman drug Lilly over to Daniels, who took her in a harsh grip with Lilly's neck clutched under his forearm. "Now the stone."

"Alright." Rouge slowly began to move toward him, with the stone lightly gripped in her hand. When she reached Daniels he held out Lilly with his hand still around her arm and Rouge held out the stone. In the next second Daniels snatched the stone and shoved Lilly into Rouge. "At last." He stared at the stone.

Rouge held Lilly tightly as she took to the sky in the next second. "You're safe now Lilly." She said gently as she continued to fly as fast as she could.

Daniels eyes widen as the stone began to glow in his palm. He felt a serge run through his body. "The stone is mine." His eyes continued to grow large with greed. "It's mine!" His large eyes started to glow as did his body. The stone turned from the clam blue to a dark midnight color and it seem to glow brighter and brighter. Suddenly with a crack of thunder over head the stone began to shake violently, and then it suddenly became still again. Daniels let out a yell of pain and when he looked at the stone he realized that there was some kind of black and clear liquid in his palm. More and more began to form and fall from his hand. The source of the foul liquid was the stone it was oozing the liquid. What was first a few drops suddenly became a puddle and now it was growing large still.

"What the hell is happening?" One of the men yelled.

"I don't know!" Came a response.

"I don't know about you all, but I'm getting the hell out of here!" He was followed by all the other guards as they ran for the door.

The gunk was forming around Daniels feet and slowly it began to slide up his legs. It was trying to incase his body. Daniels couldn't resist he couldn't even drop the stone. His eyes remained huge as his pupils dilated. The stone began to ooze more and more until it started to run over the edge of the building. The sky darkened and lighting and thunder sounded above.

Rouge looked over her shoulder and in the far distance she could see lighting striking all around the building and black and clear liquid oozing over the sides. As she looked on she could hear Nova's voice in her head as it began to rain. "Rouge, what have you done?"